FTMO Scaling Plan Explained

The FTMO Scaling Plan increases the size of an FTMO Account by 25% every four months for traders who make at least 10% net simulated profit in that period, take at least two processed rewards and keep a positive balance. Accounts can grow this way up to $2,000,000 across all of a trader’s FTMO Accounts, and 2 Step traders who qualify also move from an 80% to a 90% reward share. The plan is open to accounts from both the 1 Step and the 2 Step challenge.

How the FTMO Scaling Plan works

The plan only starts once you are an FTMO Trader, which means you have passed the 1 Step or the 2 Step FTMO Challenge and are trading an FTMO Account. FTMO lists four requirements, and all four must be met at the time of the scale up:

• Time: at least four months of trading as an FTMO Trader under the same order, counted from the start or from the last scale up.
• Profit: at least 10% net simulated profit above the starting balance, made within the previous four months.
• Rewards: at least two processed rewards within the same four month period.
• Balance: a positive account balance when the scale up takes place.

A trader who meets them gets a 25% increase in account size. FTMO says the scale up is requested as part of the reward withdrawal process in the Client Area, and the larger account is provided for the next trading period. There is no other way to enlarge an FTMO Account while it is being traded; to trade more capital without scaling, a trader has to pass another FTMO Challenge.

Two limits frame the plan. Before any scaling, FTMO caps the capital a trader or strategy can hold across all accounts at $400,000, or the equivalent in other currencies. Scaling can then take the combined total up to $2,000,000. The words “under the same order” also matter, because the four month clock is tied to the account that came from one challenge purchase.

What changes after a scale up

The account size rises by 25%. For 2 Step traders the reward share moves to 90%. 1 Step traders already receive 90% from their first reward, so for them scaling adds size only. FTMO’s scaling page does not say how the loss limits are set on the larger account, or whether later steps are 25% of the original size or of the current size, so both are worth confirming with support before planning around them. On the 1 Step, the end of day trailing maximum loss already resets whenever a reward is withdrawn and a new FTMO Account is issued, returning the first day limit to 90% of the initial capital.

Worked example

The account below is made up to show how the requirements are tested. It is a $100,000 FTMO Account from the 2 Step, with a 5% maximum daily loss, a static 10% maximum loss and an 80% reward share. The trader made $4,200 in the first reward cycle and $3,900 in the second, took both rewards, and was up $2,500 in the third cycle at the four month mark.

With all four met, the trader asks for the scale up while requesting the next reward, and the next trading period starts on a $125,000 account with a 90% reward share. The effect on earnings is larger than the 25% headline suggests. A 2% month on the original account made $2,000, of which the trader received $1,600. The same 2% month on $125,000 makes $2,500, and at 90% the trader receives $2,250, about 40% more for the same percentage return.

The loss side grows too. If the same percentages apply to the new size, the maximum daily loss becomes $6,250 and the maximum loss $12,500. A trader who keeps the same position sizes is now taking less risk as a share of the account, while one who raises sizes by 25% keeps the same risk. The drawdown calculator and the payout calculator rerun these figures for other sizes and splits.

Now take a near miss. Had the third cycle made $1,500 instead of $2,500, net profit for the period would have been $9,600, short of the $10,000 needed. Because FTMO counts profit made within the previous four months, the profit from the first cycle only counts while it sits inside that window.

Costs and payout terms

FTMO does not list a separate charge for scaling. The cost is the FTMO Challenge that leads to the FTMO Account, and fees are charged in euros. The list prices below were shown on ftmo.com on 1 October 2026.

The 2 Step fee is refunded with the first reward; the 1 Step fee is not. A reward can be requested from the 14th day after the first trade on the account, once all positions are closed. FTMO reviews the request within one to two business days and usually sends the money within one to two business days of invoice approval, by bank wire, Visa Direct or Mastercard Send, Skrill or crypto, without charging its own commission. The minimum is $20 of closed profit for bank wire and $50 for crypto. On the 1 Step, a reward can only be withdrawn when no single day makes up more than 50% of the positive days’ profit. Firms change their terms often, so confirm the current prices and rules on FTMO’s site before buying.

How it compares with FTMO’s other routes

FTMO describes the Scaling Plan and the Premium Programme as separate and independent, and a trader can take part in both. For a 2 Step trader, meeting the conditions of either one brings the 90% share. Prime Status asks for smaller gains per cycle but does not grow the account; the Scaling Plan does. The 1 Step removes the wait for 90% altogether, at the cost of a 3% daily loss limit, a maximum loss that trails the end of day balance and the Best Day Rule. Traders who hold positions for days can also look at the FTMO Swing account, and the wider rule set is covered in the FTMO review.

Common mistakes

• Leaving profit in the account. Rolling profit over on the 2 Step builds the balance, but the plan asks for at least two processed rewards in the period.
• Counting gross gains. The 10% is net, so losing days inside the four months reduce it.
• Forcing the target late in the window. A large position taken to reach 10% risks the daily or maximum loss limit, and a breach ends the account and the progress with it.
• Forgetting the Best Day Rule on the 1 Step. One outsized day can delay a reward, and with it the second processed reward the plan needs.
• Reading $2,000,000 as a per account figure. The ceiling applies across all of a trader’s FTMO Accounts combined.

Checklist

• Note the date the FTMO Account started or last scaled.
• Track net profit against 10% of the starting balance over the previous four months.
• Take at least two rewards in that window and keep the confirmations.
• Check that the balance is positive before asking for the scale up.
• On the 1 Step, check the Best Day Rule before each reward request.
• Confirm the new loss limits before trading the larger account.

For how FTMO’s plan sits against other firms’ plans, see prop firm scaling plans explained and prop firm profit split explained. Head to head comparisons are in FTMO vs The5ers and FTMO vs FundedNext.